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Saturday, May 9, 2009

You would think that we take walks outside, and we do...but not in these videos. Guess who's rather fond of the dog leash these days? It has far more uses than just dogs! Even Alex's cuddly little duck gets walked around the house! :)

In order to watch these videos, you must excuse the messy house - toys everywhere & junk on the kitchen table! Two of these videos were on a Saturday afternoon after a full day of play (and no work).

Friday, May 8, 2009

I've mentioned House Party before; it's the website where you can apply to host parties for companies that are looking to introduce new products. It's a great advertising concept - lots of people experience your product for free, and they also go home with lots of goodies bearing the company's logo.

We had the privelege of another House Party package. This time, it was Juicy Juice's new drinks. Interestingly, 2 other friends also received this House Party package. My friend Karen offered to host it at her house, so we turned 3 separate parties into one party.

We had sandwiches, chips, fruit, and cookies for lunch. Everyone got a chance to try the new Juicy Juice drinks, and then the kids played in Karen's backyard. Alex was in love with Karen's little house. He thought it was the neatest little thing! Oh, and Karen was smart enough to hang on to all the bubble wrap that was used to ship the juice - the kids had a ball popping all the bubbles!

Every guest went home with a reuseable Juicy Juice bag with coupons, mini decks of cards, growth charts, mini coloring books, and reuseable water bottles. It doesn't matter to me who wins the parties - it's just fun to attend & enjoy trying new products! This one was especially fun, since so many kids got a chance to have a fun afternoon!

Alex had so much fun in Karen's backyard. When we got home, he took a really l-o-n-g nap, so I know we wore him out! :)

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

(This post is l-o-n-g. There's another new post beneath it, written a while ago but just published today.)

Here's another 'unexciting, but must document this stuff' post just to list what Alex is up to these days. We're so thankful for a healthy, happy little boy. He's definitely moved beyond baby & into toddler, so we cherish those rare snuggles and baby moments these days!

Some of the photos in this post may be repeats - sorry! Just trying to add some cuteness to the boring lists! :)

Words

Our little guy is such a chatterbox. I know every child is different; some talk more at this age, some talk less. Alex has a pretty good vocabulary for a 16 month old, though...and we hear new words almost every day now. Yesterday he said "vegetable"...well, it was a little more like "pubble", but he tried! :)

He will sometimes put two words together "daddy bye-bye" or "puppy ball", for example, or he'll use a word and a sign together to make his point.

Here's a list of his current words, with his pronunciation in parentheses:

up ("bup")

cup ("cup-cup" or "cuh")

cracker ("cock-uh")

phone (with mouth closed, "own")

spoon ("poon", used for spoon or fork)

bowl ("bow-bow")

ball

balloon (with mouth closed, "oon"

bubbles ("bubbas")

hot ("hah")

cookie

Mama

Daddy/Dadda

puppy ("puppa")

Grandpa ("boppa")

Papa

Grandma (usually "Mandma")

car ("Cah" - he must be from Boston)

truck (used to be "cuck", but now saying "Cah" with more emphasis)

Whussat?

Bye-bye

sock ("Kah")

shoe ("Kah" or "Sue")

oops

Whoa!

Uh-oh (UHHHHH!)

bath ("baa")

push ("Puh" - for pushing something or for turning on the tv, lightswitch, etc)

vroom-vroom ("voom", usually)

Boom!

stuck ("K, K, K")

Whee! (on a slide, swing, etc.)

nigh-nigh

duck ("kuh")

woof-woof

meow

Go!

vegetable ("Pubble")

park ("pock")

baby

door ("doh-doh")

No-no

obey ("bay")

potty ("pot-pot")

Amen ("mem" or sometimes "A-mem")

birdy (he says this without opening his mouth; I can understand it, but I have no idea how to type it!)

snack ("ka", which can mean an Alex-snack or a dog treat for Maggie)

book ("Kuh" - ah, yes, we rely heavily on context with all his K words!)

block ("Kuh")

Cool (Coo!!)

There are probably more words, but none are coming to mind right now.

Signs

Alex now signs and says, "Baby, baby" several times a day. Sometimes it's just for fun; other times, it means he wants to watch his Baby Signing Times video. I really need to buy him another volume, as I think he knows every sign in volume #1. I'm watching for a used DVD on ebay, as these videos are $17 full price!

Here are his signs:

swimming

banana

cookie

birdie

dog

diaper

bye-bye

milk

all-done

please

more

horse

cereal

potty

fish

he recognizes many more signs, too...

Foods

He's a skinny little thing, weighing only 20 lbs 3 oz at his 16 month pediatrician visit. Pipsqueak! The funny thing is, Alex loves to eat...and he does plenty of that! As long as he's healthy and happy, that's what matters to us.

He likes to have a spoon or fork, and he usually eats from a plate. We can tell when he's not hungry anymore, as he'll usually pick up the plate and try to turn it over...which, of course, we discourage!

I decided to stop nursing him at 16 months, and that last nursing was a sad thing for me. It means my baby really isn't a baby...and I lost my one chance per day to snuggle a calm, cuddly Alexander. The past week was a little hard for Alex, and he still signs 'milk' every once in a while, but he's doing just fine without.

Thinking about those rare cookies, we had ONE lonely Chips Ahoy cookie sitting in the package. I decided to spoil Alex with that cookie last week, and I showed him it was the last one before I threw away the empty package. Alex stood in the kitchen, smiling and holding his cookie. When I turned to the garbage can, I heard my little guy SCREAM and turned around to see him sobbing. Maggie had eaten the cookie - the one and only cookie, the very rare treat - right out of Alex's hand. The poor kid just sobbed! This was right before his bath, and he cried quietly in the bathtub...cried quietly while I got him ready for bed...refused his bedtime cereal or water...and still whimpered as I read him his Bible story before bed. When you're 16 months old, that's a tragedy. Poor kid!

Things To Do

Go, go, go! That's what Alex loves to do - 'on the go' every waking moment. He's also learning about obedience, though...and can even say the word 'obey' and know what it means. He understands when he must sit still, and he will usually obey. Given the choice, though, he's going to be moving, moving, moving whenever he can

swiffering the floor

cell phones & remotes

Baby Signing Times dvd (the only way he will hold still for 25 minutes, lol!)

blocks (I build, he destroys)

cars & trucks

wagon

throwing a ball

giving Maggie her ball

going bye-bye

giving kisses

playing with belly buttons

baths/water play

blowing bubbles (or trying...)

reading books

clapping

flushing toilets

closing doors

going "bup" (upstairs)

using pens or crayons

walking around the yard

watching "Elephant Song" on YouTube

playing in the yard

sidewalk chalk

riding his garage sale fire truck

slides and swings

playing chase/hide with Daddy (Mama will suffice if she's the only one available)

watching trucks on the road (SO exciting!)

finding sticks in the yard and carrying them around

checking out any electronic he can get his hands on

playing with his toy train from Karen

Grandma P's turkey baster

Grandpa S's remote control truck

fridge farm magnet toy

naming people in pictures

pointing to objects in pictures when asked ("Show me the dog, Alex")

dragging Maggie around the house on her leash (or daddy, if daddy puts the leash on his belt...that always brings giggles)

"helping" Mama with laundry

bringing his clothes to the hamper after his bath

I may add to this post as things come to mind, but that's all the time I have for now! :)